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For his first feature, writer-director Sean Mullin throws a potentially unwieldy mix of story elements into the rom-com blender: post-military life, immigration, free-market capitalism and showbiz dreams. That "Amira & Sam" manages to be engaging and unforced for a good portion of its running time is a considerable feat. Chief among its pluses is the low-key warmth of leads Martin Starr and Dina Shihabi. As two people out of sync with go-go Manhattan — the movie is set in summer 2008, just before Wall Street implodes — they help the story get past its more loaded passages, if not entirely overcome them. And though Mullin isn't light enough on his feet to make...

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For his first feature, writer-director Sean Mullin throws a potentially unwieldy mix of story elements into the rom-com blender: post-military life, immigration, free-market capitalism and showbiz dreams. That "Amira & Sam" manages to be...

After a refresher spritz of bloodiness in the "previously on" prologue that starts the Norwegian horror sequel "Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead," it doesn't take long for zombie-attack survivor Martin (Vegar Hoel) to get entangled again with...

The 2014 Fall Movie Preview is a broad snapshot of films opening through Oct. 31. Release dates and other details, as compiled here by Oliver Gettell, are subject to change.
Sept. 10
My Old Lady
A down-on-his-luck New Yorker inherits a Parisian...

"Community" (NBC, Thursdays). Ratings have been reported historically low, but that this show, which now bears almost no relation to anything we have heretofore recognized as a sitcom, is surviving at all on a broadcast network seems...

There was a time when Mike Judge feared that he'd missed the Google bus to the tech boom.
The writer-director, best known for creating MTV's "Beavis and Butthead," first thought of a TV series about the digital world in 1999. At the time, he...

Mike Judge is nothing if not consistent.
His films "Office Space" and "Idiocracy" and his cartoon series "King of the Hill" all betray an affection for small lives distorted by moneyed interests; a disdain for...

"Party Down" (Hulu). This comedy about a less than merry band of caterers, which went for two seasons on Starz in 2009 and 2010, was created by "Veronica Mars" mastermind Rob Thomas with "Mars" cohorts Dan Ethridge and...

"Web Therapy" (Showtime, Tuesdays). Lisa Kudrow's Skype-framed talking-heads comedy, which began on the Web in 2008, embarks upon its third Showtime season this week. Created by Kudrow -- who plays online therapist Fiona Wallice, a character...

"The Wrong Mans" (Hulu, beginning Monday). James Corden and Mathew Baynton, both from Britain's "Gavin & Stacey," co-wrote and costar in this fine action comedy, co-produced by Hulu and the BBC. As the title suggests, it's...

Sundance Film Festival announces its lineup for 2012 competition films. The Sundance Film Festival roster for the U.S. dramatic and U.S. documentary competition -- 16 movies in each category -- features some familiar names both in front of and behind the camer

Tonight at 11 (with encore airings Mondays at the same hour) the Independent Film Channel will begin rerunning "Freaks and Geeks," the 1999 NBC comedy about socially marginal suburban high school kids that launched the careers of a bevy of ...

Its re-airing of the divine high-school comedy "Freaks & Geeks" having concluded, IFC will now begin airing "Freaks" producer Judd Apatow's subsequent TV project, the 2001 college-set "Undeclared." (Back-to-back episodes of its single season air Fridays at 11

âParty Down,â the canceled Starz catering comedy that was one of this yearâs most critically beloved shows, will get a much-deserved memorial service at Cinefamily this Sunday. As part of our preview story for the event, we interviewed a n

âParty Downâ is getting one last hurrah. The Starz comedy, canceled in June after two 10-episode seasons, will be the subject of a âmemorial serviceâ Sunday at Cinefamily. Both seasons will be shown back-to-back starting at noon, wi

If there's a special spot in TV heaven reserved for cult series beloved by critics but watched by almost no one else, "Party Down" is resting there now. The dark comedy about a catering company staffed by Hollywood screw-ups and ...